Lead Cloud Security Engineer

Department: Security Operations

Location: Kansas City, MO SOC, Sarasota, FL HQ, Scottsdale, AZ

Employment Type: FullTime

Company Overview:

TENEX is an AI-native, automation-first, built-for-scale Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provider. We are a force multiplier for defenders, helping organizations enhance their cybersecurity posture through advanced threat detection, rapid response, and continuous protection. Our team is composed of industry experts with deep experience in cybersecurity, automation and AI-driven solutions. Backed by leading investors, we are rapidly growing and seeking top talent to join our mission of revolutionizing the AI-Native MDR landscape.

We’re a fast growing startup backed by industry experts and top tier investors led by Crosspoint Capital Partners and also backed by Shield Capital, DTCP (formerly Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners), Deepwork Capital, and the Florida Opportunity Fund. Seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). As an early employee, you’ll play a meaningful role in defining and building our culture. Get in on the ground floor. We’re a small but well-funded team that just raised a substantial round – joining now comes with limited risk and unlimited upside.

Culture is one of the most important things at TENEX.AI—explore our culture deck at culture.tenex.ai to witness how we embody it, prioritizing the irreplaceable collaboration and community of in-person work.

About the Opportunity:

TENEX delivers MDR across AWS, GCP, and Azure, and cloud is where many customers face the fastest-moving risk. As Lead Cloud Security Engineer, you are the cloud subject-matter expert working alongside our Security Operations Center. You will build and automate the cloud security health checks that let us assess customer environments and turn those findings into clear remediation guidance. Additionally, you will ensure our analysts have what they need to effectively investigate and respond to cloud incidents. The role has two aims: improve our existing cloud detection and response capabilities, and help customers manage attack surface and blast radius by improving their cloud security posture.

What You’ll Do:

• Build and automate cloud security health checks. Develop repeatable checks across AWS, GCP, and Azure that surface misconfigurations, identity and access issues, and exposure consistently across customer environments.

• Turn findings into guidance. Translate health-check and assessment results into prioritized, practical remediation recommendations and best-practice guidance customers can act on.

• Strengthen cloud investigation and response. Work with the SOC to keep detection coverage, runbooks, and response procedures for cloud incidents accurate and current.

• Support analysts on cloud incidents. Serve as the escalation point and subject-matter expert for cloud-specific detections and investigations across AWS, GCP, and Azure.

• Define cloud detection use-cases. Identify the cloud threats, techniques, and misconfigurations that warrant detection, and translate them into clear requirements for Detection Engineering to build against real customer telemetry.

• Advise customers directly. Act as a senior technical contact for customer cloud security questions, assessments, and posture improvement, including work with CNAPP/CSPM tooling such as Wiz.

What You Bring:

• 7+ years in cloud security with deep hands-on experience across AWS, GCP, and Azure.

• Hands-on experience with CNAPP/CSPM tooling (Wiz or comparable) for posture assessment, and a strong grasp of cloud misconfigurations and identity and access risks.

• Working knowledge of cloud attack techniques and how they appear in logs and telemetry, with experience supporting or running cloud incident investigations.

• Ability to automate checks and workflows through scripting and APIs, and to communicate findings clearly to both analysts and customers.

Bonus Points:

• Detection engineering or threat-hunting background, particularly in cloud environments.

• Experience in an MDR/MSSP or high-growth startup environment.

• Infrastructure-as-code and security automation experience (Terraform, CI/CD).

Education & Certifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

• Relevant certifications such as CISSP, a cloud security specialty (AWS Certified Security, GCP Professional Cloud Security Engineer, or Azure Security Engineer), GIAC GCSA/GDAT, or OSCP are a plus.

Why Join Us?

• Own cloud security across our MDR operations, working directly with the SOC to improve how we detect and respond to cloud threats and how customers strengthen their own cloud posture.

• Collaborate with a talented and innovative team focused on continuously improving security operations.

• Competitive salary and benefits package.

• A culture of growth and development, with opportunities to expand your knowledge in AI, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies.